Tool for adjusting diesel governors

ABSTRACT

Auxiliary cover means for temporarily replacing cover of diesel engine governor is disclosed. Cover has sealed passage which allows access to governor adjustment means while governor contains lubricating oil. Cover also has a tuning passage with associated tuning means to allow adjustment of engine speed from outside the governor.

United States Patent 191 [111 3,854,464 Reinhard Dec. 17, 1974 TOOL FOR ADJUSTING DIESEL GOVERNORS [76] Inventor: Edward J. Reinhard, 2524 S.

Fickett Ave, Tucson, Ariz. 85713 [22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 406,033

[52] US. Cl 123/140 R [51] Int. Cl. F02d 11/00 {58] Field of Search 123/140 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,794,397 6/1957 Burman 123/140 R X 3.714.936 2/1973 Dreisin 123/140 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 712,768 7/1954 Great Britain 123/140 R Primary ExaminerManuel A. Antonakas Assistant Examiner-Tony Argenbright Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cahill, Sutton & Thomas [5 7] ABSTRACT Auxiliary cover means for temporarily replacing cover of diesel engine governor is disclosed, Cover has sealed passage which allows access to governor adjustment means while governor contains lubricating oil. Cover also has a tuning passage with associated tuning means to allow adjustment of engine speed from outside the governor.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures \ill w 4 SHEET 10F 2 PATENTEL EEC] T1974 PATENTEQ 58 I 7 I974 SHEH 2 OF 2 TOOL FOR ADJUSTING DIESEL GOVERNORS This invention relates to diesel maintenance tools and, more particularly, to a tool which facilitates the proper setting of diesel governors.

One of the most frequently performed diesel maintenance procedures is the setting of the governor to allow proper and efficient engine operation. This procedure has heretofore required the participation of two diesel mechanics, has consumed approximately 30 minutes of time and has frequently resulted in the splashage of substantial quantities of untidy and often hot lubricating oil.

Reduced to the very simplest of terms, the adjustment and setting of a diesel governor involves first removing the top cover and then manually biasing certain linkages in the governor mechanism to maintain the engine speed at a predetermined number of'revolutions per second. While one mechanic maintains the appropriate engine speed, anothermechanic adjusts certain cam gaps and spring tensions. Because the lower porjunction with the tuning and adjustment'of the govertion of the governor mechanism is, during the adjustv ment procedure, immersed in a bath of lubricating oil, mechanics have found it necessary to wrap a rag or towel around or over the governor to prevent the splashage of oil over the entire engine, which splashage is due to the rapid rotation of the submerged governor weights. Attempts at shielding, deflecting or containing oil splashage have been frequently inadequate due to thenecessity of simultaneously biasing the governor linkage for proper engine speed and adjusting gap and spring settings; all of which has contributed to the difficulty, inconvenience, untidiness and, ultimately, the inordinate expense of executingthis routine maintenace procedure.

Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide atool which will greatly facilitate the proper adjustment of governors such as those augmenting Detroit Diesel engines.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a tool for use in setting diesel governors in substantially less time and with substantially less inconvenience than has heretofore been associated with this procedure.

More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a tool which will allow a single diesel mechanic to quickly. efficiently and accurately adjust a diesel engine governor without the inconvenience of oil splashage.

Briefly stated, and in accord with one embodiment of the invention, a displaceable fork is provided for engaging a particular governor linkage, the relative movement of which results in the variation of diesel engine speed. The displaceable fork is secured by way of an appropriate shaft passing through an auxiliary governor cover to a tuning handle capable of being fixed or secured against movement in any desired position. A shielded aperture is provided through the auxilary governor cover to allow access to at least one selected portion of the governor mechanism.

The invention is pointed out with particularity in the appended claims. However, other objectives and advantages, together with the operation of the invention, may be better understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the following illustrations, wherein:

nors. on Detroit Diesel V-7l engines.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 consists of an auxiliarygovernor cover 1 having through its horizontal surface 2 bolt holes 3 and alignment holes 4. Vertical walls 5 cooperate with the horizontal surface 2 in defining a shielded aperture therethrough, the function of which will hereinafter become apparent.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1 also consists of a displaceable fork 6 which is secured to one end of a shaft 7. The shaft 7 passes through the horizontal surface 2 and through hub 8 and has its other end secured to tuning handle 9. Hub 8 and the corresponding hole through the upper surface 2 act-as a bushing in which shaft 7 may freely rotate without substantial axial displacement. Set screw 10, which is engaged into threaded hole 11, serves to mechanically lock shaft 7 and thus displaceable fork 6 in any desired radial position.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it is seen that a typical Detroit Diesel governor consists of a governor housing 20 having an upper horizontal opening which is typically sealed by governor cover 21. FIG. 2 shows only a portion of governor cover 21, the remainder having been cut away to allow illustration of the principal components of the governor mechanism.

Connecting pin 22 is displaced during normal engine operation as control link 23 pivots about bearing 24. Associated with any displacement of connecting pin 22 is the displacement of connecting link 25; and, accordingly, the rotational displacement of differential lever 26 about axis 27. Rotation of differential lever 26 results in the displacement of operating lever 28 which in turn increases or decreases the force exerted by gap adjusting screw 29 on idle pin 30.

idle screw 31 serves to limit the motion of cam 32 and to determine the force exerted by idle spring 33. Buffer screw 34 serves to limit the left displacement of connecting pin 22 while adjusting the effective force exerted against connecting pin 22 by buffer spring 35. Alignment pins 36 geometrically correspond to alignment holes in both the governor cover 21 (not shown) and the alignment holes 4 in the auxiliary governor cover 1. The bolt holes 37 geometrically correspond to bolt holes in both the governor cover 21 (not shown) and bolt holes 3 in the auxiliary governor cover I.

The alignment pins 36 and the corresponding holes in governor cover 21 and auxiliary governor cover 1 allow quick and accurate alignment of these covers with the upper edges of governor housing 20. Bolt holes 37 cooperate with the corresponding holes in both the governor cover 21 and the auxiliary governor cover 1 to receive bolts which secure these covers in their appropriate position at the upper edges of governor housing 20.

in adjusting a governor such as the one shown in FIG. 3

2, it is necessary first to displace connecting pin 22 to a sufficient extent to bring the engine speed to approximately 900 revolutions per minute. This engine speed is then maintained while the gap 38 between idle pin 30 and gap adjusting screw 29 is set at approximately 0.0015 inches. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, this adjustment is achieved by passing an appropriate shim between idle pin 30 and gap adjusting screw 29 while advancing or withdrawing gap adjusting screw 29. When the appropriate gap is achieved, locking nut 39 secures gap adjusting screw 29 in position.

As has been noted, this adjustment must be carried out at an engine speed of approximately 900 revolutions per minute. This procedure is further complicated due to the rapid rotation of the governor weights (not shown) located in an oil bath disposed immediately below the linkage members illustrated in FIG. 2. At the engine speed of 900 revolutions per minute, these rotating governor weights splash quantities of oil through the upper opening in governor housing 20.

The minimum (and in some cases maximum) engine idle is set by adjusting idle screw 31.

FIG. 3 shows an expanded view of the invention as illustrated in FIG. I and the relationship of its principal elements to the key portions of the governor illustrated in FIG. 2.

Alignment pins 36 (only one is shown in FIG. 3) pass through alignment holes 4 in the upper surface 2 of the auxiliary governor cover 1. Bolt 40 passes through bolt hole 3 and is threaded into bolt hole 37 in the upper surface of the governor housing 20. Bolt 40 (and other not shown) secure the auxiliary governor cover 1 in position. The horizontal surface 2 cooperates with the vertical walls 5 to contain and shield against splashage of fugitive lubricating oil while at the same time allowing mechanical access to the critical gap adjusting screw 29 and the immediately related components of the governor.

As auxiliary governor cover 1 is locked into position, displaceable fork 6 is engaged about connecting pin 22.

As used in conjunction with the adjustment and setting of a typical diesel governor such as the one illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the invention is used in the following manner: the governor cover 21 is removed and is replaced by auxiliary governor cover 1. The auxiliary governor cover 1 may preferably be made of an appropriate transparent plastic material to allow alignment of displaceable fork 6 and connecting pin 22 and to generally allow the' mechanic to observe linkage movement within governor housing 20. The diesel engine is started and the speed thereof is adjusted to approximately 900 revolutions per minute by the rotation of tuning handle 9. As has been discussed previously, the rotation of tuning handle 9 rotates shaft 7 which rotates displaceable fork 6, which in turn displaces connecting pin 22. The movement of connecting pin 22 results in the advancement or retardation of engine speed.

When the desired adjustment speed is reached, set screw 10 is secured through threaded hole 11 in hub 8 and against the surface of shaft 7, thereby preventing further rotation of shaft 7. The mechanic then simply proceeds to make the necessary adjustment in the gap between idle pin 30 and gap adjusting screw 29 via the access provided through the cooperation of vertical walls 5,'horizontal surface 2 and the corresponding sides of governor housing 20 without the assistance of an additional mechanic and without the continual inconvenience of splashing lubricating oil.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art tat the disclosed governor adjusting tool may be modified in numerous ways and may assure many embodiments other than the single preferred form specifically set out and described above. For example, the tuning handle and set screw arrangement may be replaced with an appropriate ratchet arrangement. The location and posi tion of vertical walls 5 may assure many alternative configurations and positions. And, the auxiliary governor cover 1 may be made of a large variety of material. Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. Apparatus for use in tuning a diesel governor, which governor includes: (i) a housing containing lubricating oil and having removable cover means, (ii) mechanical linkages for controlling and correlating engine speeds, and (iii) governor adjustment means; said apparatus comprising in combination:

a. auxiliary cover means for temporarily replacing said removable cover means while the governor is being tuned, said auxiliary cover means including:

(i) a sealed passage allowing physical access to said governor adjustment means while substantially containing fugitive lubricating oil within said housing, and (ii) a tuning passage; and

b. tuning means for controllably maintaining engine speed at a desired level, said tuning means including: (i) displacement means for mechanically engaging said mechanical linkage within said housing, (ii) control means connected to said displacement means through said tuning passage for translating selected mechanical displacement outside said housing into corresponding changes in the position of said translation means,-and (iii) locking means for securing said displacement means in a selected position during the adjustment of said governor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: (i) said displacement means comprises a fork member, (ii) said control means comprises a handle connected to said fork member by means of a shaft which passes through said tuning passage, and, (iii) said locking means comprises a set screw for inhibiting relative motion between said cover means and said shaft.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said auxiliary cover means is constructed of a rigid transparent material.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said rigid transparent material is plastic. 

1. Apparatus for use in tuning a diesel governor, which governor includes: (i) a housing containing lubricating oil and having removable cover means, (ii) mechanical linkages for controlling and correlating engine speedS, and (iii) governor adjustment means; said apparatus comprising in combination: a. auxiliary cover means for temporarily replacing said removable cover means while the governor is being tuned, said auxiliary cover means including: (i) a sealed passage allowing physical access to said governor adjustment means while substantially containing fugitive lubricating oil within said housing, and (ii) a tuning passage; and b. tuning means for controllably maintaining engine speed at a desired level, said tuning means including: (i) displacement means for mechanically engaging said mechanical linkage within said housing, (ii) control means connected to said displacement means through said tuning passage for translating selected mechanical displacement outside said housing into corresponding changes in the position of said translation means, and (iii) locking means for securing said displacement means in a selected position during the adjustment of said governor.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: (i) said displacement means comprises a fork member, (ii) said control means comprises a handle connected to said fork member by means of a shaft which passes through said tuning passage, and, (iii) said locking means comprises a set screw for inhibiting relative motion between said cover means and said shaft.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said auxiliary cover means is constructed of a rigid transparent material.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said rigid transparent material is plastic. 